Daily news and top headlines for broadband communications engineering and design professionals

Wading into a states' rights dispute over Internet access, President Barack Obama on Wednesday called for the repeal of laws that prevent local communities from creating their own broadband networks. Obama, for the second time in three months, cast himself as an antagonist to large cable and telephone companies that provide the bulk of the nation's Internet service.

Verizon has gone live with a new multi-screen portal for FiOS that is enabled by Synacor’s platform. The guide provides a unified view of, and the ability to search through, all content available to FiOS customers across all platforms – TV, PC, mobile devices.

Shaw Communications reported this morning that its first quarter profits were down year-over-year, partially due to the start up cost associated with its streaming service that launched in November. Shaw and Rogers Communications both own a 50 percent stake in shomi, which is a new subscription VOD service that was designed to compete against Netflix, but Shaw lost $13 million on the joint venture in the first quarter.

Clearleap has wrapped up a deal to power A+E Networks’ on-demand video distribution across the programmer’s brands and networks, including A&E, History, Lifetime, FYI, LMS and H2. The partnership, which launched this month, is the first agreement reached between the two companies, and included the opportunity for Clearleap to help provision multiplatform services.

President Barack Obama is once again challenging major cable and telephone companies by encouraging the Federal Communications Commission to pre-empt state laws that stifle competition for high-speed Internet service. Obama wants to expand access to broadband communications services, siding with local communities that want either to expand competition or provide municipal services themselves.

The axed NBC sitcom "Community" will make its Yahoo debut in March. Yahoo announced Tuesday that the sitcom will begin its online life with a pair of episodes. Then it will air once weekly. Last June, Yahoo, Sony Pictures Television and series creator Dan Harmon reached a deal for a 13-episode sixth season.

Starting next week, Time Warner Cable will start informing its Kansas City-based subscribers that the company’s all-digital “TWC Maxx” project will begin its first phase. After upgrading networks in Los Angeles, New York City and Austin last year via TWC Maxx initiatives, Kansas City was one of the cities on the shortlist for this year, along with Charlotte, Dallas, Hawaii, Raleigh, San Antonio and San Diego.

WOW! Business announced the availability of its 110 Mbps downstream/15 Mbps upstream broadband tier in Detroit and Evansville, Ind. The 110/15 business offering, which uses Arris' cable modems, was previously deployed in Chicago, Cleveland and Columbus.

Comcast customers can follow through on those New Year’s fitness resolutions with the addition of Gaiam TV to the cable operator’s subscription VOD service. Comcast’s digital TV subscribers with Xfinity On Demand can access the streaming fitness and yoga video content from Gaiam TV for an additional $6.99 per month.

President Barack Obama proposed strengthening laws against identity theft by requiring notification when consumer information is hacked and protecting students' private data. Obama wants Congress to pass legislation called the Personal Data Notification and Protection Act, which would require companies to inform customers within 30 days if their data has been hacked.

Integra has reorganized along sales lines, forming two new business units, one focused on larger customers, the other dedicated to medium-sized businesses. The company also said it plans to “expand its fiber assets” to better serve the former group.

The migration to generic hardware and network functions virtualization (NFV) is putting a strain on current video equipment prices, according to a recent report. Overall, global broadcast and streaming video equipment revenue decreased 4 percent to $810 million in the first half of 2014 with nearly all product segments down, according to a report by Infonetics Research.

President Barack Obama wants Congress to pass legislation requiring companies to inform customers within 30 days if their data has been hacked, a move that follows high-profile breaches at retailers including Target, Home Depot and Neiman Marcus. A White House official said Obama will announce the proposed legislation Monday, along with a measure aimed at preventing companies from selling student data to third parties.

The New York Public Library is launching the nation's largest Internet lending program, handing out 10,000 free high-speed hot spots to some of the city's poorest residents. The program — which offers the devices for up to a year, about a $1,000 value — seeks to bridge a digital divide in the nation's largest city, where studies have found nearly 3 million of the 8 million people lack broadband access.